Paul and Elsie Haber Were Tisbury Residents

The Gazette this week received news of the death of Paul Haber on
Dec. 13, 2002, and of his wife, Elsie Haber, on Jan. 27. Both were
longtime residents of Vineyard Haven.

Mr. and Mrs. Haber started visiting the Vineyard in the 1930s,
sometimes sailing from New York in a small catboat with a tarp thrown
over the boom for shelter. In those earlie days Elsie and Paul were also
well-known on the tennis circuit. In the 1940s and 1950s, they often
visited the Island with their daughters, Ann and Jane, renting a variety
of homes.

Being high school teachers in New York city, the Habers had time to
enjoy Island summers fully. Their activities circled around sailing,
tennis and music. Finally, in the 1960s, they bought their own home in
Vineyard Haven and retired. They could often be found out in Vineyard
Sound in their Boston Whaler, reeling in fluke after fluke. They loved
being on the water and made such a study of fishing that they excelled
at it. They could also be seen driving around town in their Sout, the
Nut Hatch. Their skills and interests included vegetable gardening,
which they did with a passion equal to fishing. They often shared their
bounty of vegetables and fish with friends and neighbors.

Mr. Haber's death followed a lengthy illness. Mrs. Haber, vigorous
until her death, had been planning to go to an Elderhostel program in
the spring and to take an Alaskan cruise in the fall.

In addition to their two daughters, Ann and Jane, they are survived
by three grandchildren, Mark, Lisa and Jeffrey.